Teen Slasher is Back!

It's time to grab a poncho, and head to Blacktop Comedy. Teen Slasher 2019 is here!

Teen Slasher is our annual blood-soaked love letter to horror films, and specifically teen slasher films. You know the type. Where teens are making lots of bad choices, taking showers at inopportune time, walking into backyards alone, and insisting, "there can't possibly be a killer in the neighborhood."

Well, there is a killer in the neighborhood, and he/she/they are different every night at Teen Slasher! Every show is improvised. Every killer is different and inspired by audience suggestions. Yes! Your choices help our improvisers live, die, and... just maybe.... get help. It's always a new show full of surprises. Live comedy where everyone may not make it out alive. And, this Halloween, it's getting sequel-y-ier! The director, Jay Miller, came up with a brilliant idea for this years show.....sequels. Every Slasher is a sequel to a fictional original film. That's right! You'll be watching an improvised sequel to a movie that doesn't even exist.

Who would undertake such a...ummm....undertaking? Six incredible improvisers: Christina Duran, Kevin Scott Brown, Austin Jansma, Jay Brundage, Jason Alviar, and Jessica Deprez.

I had a chance to sit down, ask them a few questions about improv, horror films, and what they've learned creating Teen Slasher the Halloween Improv Horror Comedy Spectacular that Shan't Be Missed (a working title I suggested and Jay Miller, correctly shortened).

1. How long have you been improvising?

Teen Slasher photo shoot fun. We got some looks at the park.

Jessica Deprez

Christina Duran (CD): About 1.5 years

Jessica Deprez (JD): Since 2007

Jeff Brundage (JB): 2 years.

Kevin Scott Brown (KSB): I started doing it in my Freshmen year of college, in 2001, but I didn't start taking it seriously until 2006.  

Austin Jansma: (AJ):  I started improvising in late 2015; so probably 4-ish years now.

Jason Alviar (JA): Since 2016, so about three, three-and-a-half years or so.

2. How did you get started?

Austin Jansma

CD: My mom found a facebook ad of blacktop and I went to Thursday (game night at the time) playground.

JD: I wanted to take a class to help me through a difficult grieving process. The person who had passed had been egging me to take an improv class for years because they thought I would really enjoy the class. So I enrolled as a way to heal. And it turns out that I was pretty OK at it in the beginning. 

JB: I originally took a class to help my stand up and ended up enjoying imorov more than stand up. 

KSB:  I had just been dumped by my first ever major girlfriend and a lot of my friends at this time were theater majors so they made me go to their improv club to have fun and forget about my problems. After that, I was hooked. 

AJ: I started attending Blacktop comedy to progress in my journey as an actor.

JA: My partner would go to Blacktop’s Improv Playgrounds and I would sit in the car waiting for her.  Then one day I joined in and haven’t stopped.

3. So many people are scared to improvise, and think, “I can’t do this.” Initially, when you started, did you have to push past fear? How did you do that?

Kevin Scott Brown

CD: Because my first improv experience was a playground there are more games and everyone knows how to interact with a game. When I started doing long-form I was more at ease because I knew my scene partners would support me and I would support them so it's less scary with a kind of friend.

JD: Oh dear, yes! I was TERRIFIED. I had anxious breakdowns before class because I was afraid I wasn't good enough, or people would hate what I said, or did. Or I would offend someone beyond belief. It was a lot of EGO and FEAR that dominated my thoughts in the beginning. The way I pushed past that fear was becoming open and vulnerable with my fellow classmates. We were all beginners, and as it turned out, we were all a bit terrified! Building up trust helped me get through those first few classes. 

And SURE. I still get terrified, and I still get nervous, and I still have moments of 'oh-mi-gawd-im-gonna-be-terrible-and-everybody-hates-me', but in the end, I know that whatever happens on stage, I will 100% have my fellow performer's and audience's backs, and they will 100% have mine.

JB: Absolutely, I still have to push back fear but it’s a lot easier now. I just remind myself that it’s going to be fun and I trust my brain and team to help me if I get stuck.

KSB:  Yeah. I would say so. It was a combination. You can't push pass it alone. You need the support of the people around you. You also need to believe in yourself and believe in the people your on stage with. 

AJ: Well, even to this day I have a little bit of fear, or pregame jitters, before getting on stage to perform, and I think that's healthy. But once I’m up there on stage, the fear starts to just roll away. Now have a job to do - have fun and support my friends on stage.

JA: I’m a naturally introverted and shy person, especially when it comes to new things and new people. But the moment you just let loose in front of supportive people (especially the folks at Blacktop) it gets easier and easier, and eventually, you just forget about being afraid and focus on having fun.

4. Teen horror films always seems to have that one moment the audience rolls there eyes and says, “why would you do that?” What was a moment when you were a teen you look back on and think, “why would you do that?”

Christina Duran

CD: Trying to take part of my high school boyfriends' extracurricular and hobbies even though I hated most of them like biking so I could spend extra time with him even though I pretty much knew he wouldn't do the same to spend time with me.

JD: Hooboy. Ok. I was the kid that refused to take off their black leather jacket in class. It might've been 'cool' if I was fashion forward, or I wasn't constantly drowning in my jacket. I was legit cold, nearly ALL the time. So you would've thought 'GET A BETTER SWEATER' but oh no. not me. I mean. Why do I need a better sweater, when I have a perfectly good leather jacket laying around?!

JB: I had long blue hair for a few months

KSB: Man. That was so long ago. I remember going on a date to the State Fair and we walked (since neither of us had a car) to the Arden Mall. It was a long walk and not the best date, overall.  

AJ: I did stupid stuff to try and impress people that I would never see again thinking it would make them like me.

JA: One time my friend and I were play fighting before 9th grade English, and I kicked him square in the nuts. I didn’t mean to, but I look back and think why were you play fighting in the first place? And why in English? Why any of it?

5. What would be something someone would be surprised to know about you as a teenager?

Jeff Brundage

CD: I took defensive driving after I got my license so I got to go on a training course to drive trough cones backward and hydroplane on a skid pan.

JD: I performed approximately 150 hours of community service every year.

JB: I was in band for a year. 

KSB: I didn't go to any of social events (dancing, sports games, ect) at my school, expect homecoming in my senior year. I was at home playing Goldeneye and babysitting my brother.

AJ: As a teenager I hated cats. I currently have one sitting on my lap and I’m loving every minute of it.

JA: I went through a really “emo” phase in 11th grade, I had a long bang, wore tight band shirts and skinny jeans. I would play sappy pop-punk songs on my guitar.

6. What’s your favorite horror film?

Jason Alviar

CD: The Orphanage (2007).

JD: A Tale of Two Sisters, directed by Kim Jee-woon has had the honor for a re-heally long time.  

JB: Devils Rejects

KSB:  Of all time? The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). For a more modern film? Rosemary's Baby or Get Out.  

AJ: That’s a very hard question. I have a wide range of horror films in my collection for different reasons. I have almost every Sir Alfred Hitchcock film because I believe he was the master of misdirection. I also have a lot of classics like The Exorcist, Friday the 13th (1-4), Silence of the Lambs, and much more. If I had to choose a favorite though, I would go with American Psycho.

JA: As of late, I’ve been really digging the Scream series.  But all-time favorite would have to be the original (and maybe the second) Paranormal Activity movies.

7. Teen Slasher has been around for eight years! And this year Jay Miller created some all-new, and it sounds brilliant. Every performance is an improvised sequel to an original movie ...that has never been made. The audience supplies the title, and you and the cast perform the sequel to the movie. I can’t wait to see the show. What attracted you to being a part of Teen Slasher?

CD: I like all the shows at blacktop. Jay and playing with blood make it extra special.

JD: I've always wanted to participate in Teen Slasher since its inception! I love the horror genre so much, and it is such an honor to be cast this year.

JB: Someone messaged me and told me I should audition so I did and here I am. 

KSB:  I really enjoy bringing something new and different to the stage that people haven't seen before and making lasting memories. Even though we been doing it for over 10 years, I enjoy the challenge of making a show that feels fresh. And there's the blood. The blood is fun.  

AJ: i had watched Teen Slasher for 2 years prior to joining the team and it always looked like so much fun. You can see the cast members smiling and having a grand old time. Last year I had the honor of auditioning and being offered a part in Teen Slasher and what I had seen for 2 years was so true. It was so much fun! You could be the hero, the villain, or some random character that moved the story forward. Also, you got to cover the audience in fake blood. It’s like you are making a 3d horror movie. 

JA: I’ve been playing with most of the cast at some capacity since I’ve started.  Teen slasher also happens to be the first real genre show I ever watched at Blacktop. So when the opportunity arose to do it this year, I had to go for it!

8. What has surprised you during the rehearsal for this Teen Slasher?

CD: The amount of running.

JD: How much fun it is to pantomime blood squirt bottles to prepare for the real thing. I will apologize in advance for those in the front rows. I will probably get lots of blood on you. 

JB: How out of shape I am! We have been extremely physical in our rehearsals and I’m always winded and out of breath fast. 

KSB:  How well the cast has been working together and taking care of each other in rehearsal. We all really do have each others back out there. 

AJ: One scene comes to mind between me and Jason. As Kevin entered the scene, he asked, ‘who are you talking to?’ I backed out of the scene as Jason’s back was turned and it appeared like my character was a figment of Jason's mind. I love that all of that happened organically, which gave depth to the show. 

JA: The amount of imagination and creativity everyone has on this team, the choices we make when we’re on stage and on the sidelines are always fun and exciting.

9. What’s been your favorite death during rehearsal?

CD: A favorite death I died was when Jes slit my throat. But my favorite death was when people were being picked off and redressed as train conductor mannequins.

JD: Mystery bear traps from the darkness!!

JB: One time we kept killing Austin’s character right away as soon as he stepped on stage and it was very funny and enjoyable. 

KSB:  Oh man. There's been so many. I would have to say the one where Jason's character was   decapitated by a bear trap and Jessica’s character holding him, saying he's going to be okay for like a minute. But he was missing his head.    

AJ: There was a scene where everyone was a ghost and we were all spinning around Jason and Christina chanting “WE NEED ONE MORE!!!”.

JA: We were doing a teen slasher that took place at an old summer camp and Austin kept coming back as characters that would keep dying by beartrap. 

10. I saw the pictures from the photoshoot. You and everyone in the cast are covered in blood. Any tips on getting blood out of clothes, hair, or skin?

CD: Cold water for clothes, and patients for getting it off the skin because it's not coming out the first time.

JD: We...we use fake blood. Are you asking about real blood? I don't... fake blood you can wash out with cold water. 

JB: The blood came off fairly easy in the shower. I still have a little blood in my pants so I’m looking for tips myself. 

KSB:  One. Don't wait. Get it cleaned sooner than later. Two. Soak and wash. Three. Wash, wash, and wash again. It will come off. Give it time. Four. Don't dry until your sure it's clean.    

AJ: Clothes: still working on that one, but I hear a cold-water rinse is the trick. Hair: shampoo x2. When it says rinse and repeat- actually rinse and repeat. Skin: Old Spice body wash and a loofah

JA: For clothes, you just soak in cold water and run the machine, hair you use shampoo. Skin. Skin has been the trickiest.  At the time of writing this I’ve had blood stains on my skin for about two days.

11. What's one tip you would give another improviser interested in genre work?

CD: Watch a lot of movies of that genre and note all the tropes.

JD: Watch movies and plays in that genre Read books! Talk to people about the genre! All base genres also have subgenres, so learn enough about the genre to know which ones really strike a cord with you. And of course, PLAY. You may discover something way more special to you through play than research.

JB: Have fun, stay out of your head, and the rest will come together.

KSB:  Be in love with the genre. It's hard to do something like this without having a love for the source martial that can transfer over to the stage. I really do love movies and espcally horror movies and this is my way to “contribute” to that culture.

AJ: Research the genre, figure out what the tropes are and play to those character types. Also, rehearsal is amazing; never take it for granted, play and hangout with your friends

JA: Know the genre as best you can, be confident, and trust in your team.

Verbal Insult League on FOX40 Live

If you haven’t had a chance to come watch the Verbal Insult League at Improv Impact, you have an opportunity….right now!

FOX40 Live invited Al Shuman and Josh Means into their South Sacramento studio to educate…and share some cruel jokes. No one was spared. Even Scott and Gary got roasted.

We’ve included the video, below, as well as the transcript. And, don’t miss the next verbal smackdown in November! The Verbal Insult League returns to Blacktop on Nov. 22nd. Tickets are available, and we strongly encourage you to buy them online. Not only do you save money, you also guarantee yourself a seat. And, I’m not saying this in a promotional way. I’m letting you know tickets are available so we don’t have an awkward moment where I say, ”thanks for visiting our theater. We know you want some live comedy to feed your soul, and bring happiness to your life, but we’re sold out. There’s the door. Maybe next time.” I don’t want to say those words!

LINK

Gary Gelfand:    All right. From wrestling to getting verbally insulted. I love this show.

Scott Muck:        I love that those things are kind of symbiotic.

Gary Gelfand:    It could be.

Gary Gelfand:    Okay, here they are. We've got Josh Means and Al Shuman. Good to see you guys.

Josh Means:       Thanks for having us.

Gary Gelfand:    What Is this all about, tell us about this. This is great. So whoever to jump in...

Al Shuman:         Why don't we just show you...

Gary Gelfand:    Please.

Al Shuman:         Verbal Insults it’s a show where you're going to see some amazing, brutal jokes about people's deepest, darkest insecurities. Like my friend Josh Means here.

Gary Gelfand:    Already funny.

Al Shuman:         All right. He looks like the type of stuff that comes out whenever you pop a pimple.

Josh Means:       And, Al is dressed like the number one draft pick for ISIS.

Gary Gelfand:    Oh jeez.

Al Shuman:         You guys are probably wondering, am I a Comedian or a corrupt Politician? Is this guy going to make me laugh or take away my healthcare? Hopefully one of those things.

Josh Means:       He's actually dressed this way because there's a special lady at home...his parole officer.

Scott Muck:        Waiting for that.

Al Shuman:         Josh is just mad because he's not attractive enough to have white privilege.

Gary Gelfand:    Jeez.

Josh Means:       You may recognize Al from kidnapping Liam Neeson's daughter.

Gary Gelfand:    Whoa. Okay.

Scott Muck:        I Love it.

Gary Gelfand:    I love the insults by the way.

Josh Means:       We got some for you guys too.

Scott Muck:        Perfect.

Al Shuman:         Scott Muck.

Scott Muck:        Yes sir. Yes sir.

Josh Means:       You're the voice of the Kings.

Scott Muck:        I am.

Josh Means:       Which is crazy because you dress like a peasant.

Gary Gelfand:    Yeah. Nice man. I mean I like it.

Al Shuman:         And you look like a Little League Umpire and you look like the dad that he just injected.

Scott Muck:        How dare you throw me out? You really do look like that.

Gary Gelfand:    You're out! [crosstalk 00:01:29]

Gary Gelfand:    So, during the actual show though it could get a little bit dirtier a little bit more racy.

Al Shuman:         Yeah, there will be foul language. There will be innuendo. It's an adult show or, you could bring your kids if you're a bad parent.

Josh Means:       There was a kid in our last one.

Al Shuman:         Yeah, but he had sound canceling headphones on so we had to take the headphones off to cuss in his ear so that he could hear it.

Gary Gelfand:    You got to hear it.

Josh Means:       You got to make sure that he hears everything.

Scott Muck:        Oh my gosh.

Gary Gelfand:    How often do you do these shows? You do quite often?

Al Shuman:         Monthly, we do them monthly.

Josh Means:       Starting after next month will be the first Friday of every month. I got double bucks. I'm pretty good at this, but after that, it will be the first Friday of every month. We do it in Rocklin at Blacktop Comedy, eight o'clock. Super fun shows.

Scott Muck:        Love it, man. Good stuff. Good stuff. I'm sure someone out there thinks you guys are funny. We'll try to find him to.

Al Shuman:         [crosstalk 00:02:13] Verbal Insults. Instagram, Verbal Insults. Let's do it big.

Scott Muck:        There we go. There is the information for you right there. Check it out. Verbal Insults live Friday, October 4th at 8:00 PM Blacktop Comedy. You see it right there on Sunset Boulevard in Rocklin. Very nice. All right.

Three Things You Have Do to Stop Worrying

We have an amazing community of improvisers at Blacktop. Nate, asked me, and I’m paraphrasing, “how can I get out of my head and let things flow.“ Oh flow state! That elusive place that feels amazing when you’re there, but is sure easy to slip in and out.

What can you do to stay there?

Well, here are the three things I use to get out of my head, be present with my scene partner, and just flow.

I’m using the acronym ELF, because I think acronyms are helpful when you’re onstage, and under the lights, and thinking, “what should I do?“

The first letter, E is for eye contact. Make more eye contact. When you’re trapped in your head, you’re disconnected from the scene. You feel like control is floating away. You might begin thinking, “I’m an improv comedian, but I can’t make the audience laugh? I should have taken more improv classes before attempting a show! Maybe I’m no good. Maybe an improv class wouldn’t help! Maybe I should give up.”

Get out of your brain! It can be poisonous. Look how quickly I just spiraled into doubt and anxiety. That’s an actual bit of spiraling I did years ago. None of it is helpful. None of it helps you explore an improv scene and discover comedy. How do you escape it? Eye contact. It’ll connect you to your scene partner, It’ll remind you, “oh yeah. There’s someone else here. I’m with someone else. I’m not alone on this stage.” That’s a powerful reminder.

The second part of Elf is Listen. And, really listen. Here the other person onstage. What are they saying with words, body language and tone. Over 70% of communciation is nonverbal. It’s body language. You need to pay attention. If you noticed it, the audience did too. React to it. Stanislavski said, “all acting is reacting.“ (Look at me, quoting Konstantin. Ol’ Kons as I knew him. We were close. OK. Maybe not.)

If all acting is reacting, it begins with listening. We are actors onstage. Yeah, true. We’re improvisers, but that’s just a way of saying actors who are living in the moment. We’re improv actors, and we’re here to explore characters and events.

Finally, F. We made it! We’re at the third step. “Find a way to help.“ I realize that’s not the most elegant. Probably H for “Help“ would be more logcail, but then I' would be spelling ELH. Is that memorable? Could you see yourself onstage remembering a mae up word like ELH? Me either! That’s why I opted for F.

Find a way to help your scene partner. Improv teachers preach, “yes, and.“ If there was one cornerstone of improv it’s “yes, and your scene partner.“ That’s a fancy way of saying, “go help!“ Your scene partner just made an offer…..go help! Your scene partner wants to know if you’d like breakfast….go help! And, you can help by saying “yes, I would like breakfast, and I’ll help you make pancakes.”

When you’re helping, you’re discovering the story without planning the story. You’re not inside your mind crafting a funny scene, or hilarious anecdote. You’re responding to the moment, living in the moment, and “yes, anding“ your partner. You don’t have time to be in your head, because you’re busy creating something awesome onstage

That’s it! That’s the three step process to getting out of your head! I hope it helps. Remember, ELF

E: Eye Contact

L: Listen

F: Find a Way to Help

This is my secret weapon when I walk onstage, into the office, or a new group of people. I hope it helps you too.

What do you do to get out of your head? Let me know in the comments below!